Bryant tapes inspirational message for Corpus fan

For obvious reasons, Kobe Bryant isn’t particularly popular in these parts.

That doesn’t matter to long-time Lakers fan Chris Gelinas, a 16-year-old Tuloso-Midway student suffering from a terminal case of cancer. As reported by KRIS TV in Corpus Christi, Bryant taped a short inspirational message for Gelinas after the television station place a call to Lakers headquarters on Christmas Eve.

Said Bryant: “I just wanted to say, thank you so much for your support and for what you continue to embody and the spirit that you have to endure and to persevere and to fight. That’s an inspiration for me.”

Gelinas’ family was understandably thrilled.

“It’s so amazing that Kobe reached out to Chris,” sister Marlena Lopez said. “We threw it out there and the community and everyone ran with it. It’s just amazing.”